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Everything posted by jazzburger
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Nice to meet you Kyndainverse. My talent has never matched my enthusiasm or the lovely basslines that run through my head almost every day. I started in the mid-80s and have recently treated myself to an Ibanez Mikro 4-string which is encouraging me to go for lines that I never attempted on my old Aria RSB Deluxe. The Zoom B1on pedal I bought when I got the Mikro has transformed my practice sessions. Covid restrictions permitting, I'm about a month from starting rehearsals with some guys at work. It seems like we could be attempting anything from Linkin Park to Jaco Pastorius with some Herbie Hancock in between. I'm out of my depth but that will give me the kick up the @rse I seem to need. Good luck with your PPDF ramblings.
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I'd like to respond to this old thread because I've returned to bass playing after a 10-year break and I'm trying to develop my technique. I'll go the list route as other members have: 1) Inability to keep time 2) Inability or unwillingness to play just what the song requires 3) Underestimation of how difficult it is to be a technically competent and musically responsive player 4) Unwillingness to put in the time to listen widely and practice I'm not guilty of 1), less guilty of 2) than I was when I first took up the bass in the mid-80s, slightly guilty of 3) and very guilty of 4). I'm a mediocre player but I can see a way forward - finally.
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The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!
jazzburger replied to Baloney Balderdash's topic in Bass Guitars
I really like this bass and I like the term 'couch bass'. My recently acquired Ibanez Mikro is now my 'couch bass'. Just need to wait for my back pain to subside before I get back into practising 🙂 I just watched the linked video - the bass sounds really nice and full and perfect for what you're doing on that track. A little hint of Rickenbacker on that fast lick near the end - lovely. -
Forgotten Albums which future generations will appreciate.
jazzburger replied to TheGreek's topic in General Discussion
If I could only grab two albums for my desert island sojourn, these would probably do: Focus - Live at the Rainbow Focus - Hamburger Concerto For we bass players and fans, Bert Ruiter is IMHO one of the most underrated players ever to pick up a bass. Listen to him on the live version of Answers? Questions! Questions? Answers! Solid, solid stuff. -
Welcome @Girlarms - rambling is obligatory here. As you will find... 🙂
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The fretted is drop-dead gorgeous. It looks shorter than the fretless - hoptical hillusion?
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Hi Marc, I saw a YouTube demo of the 5-string and I loved it. I'm just not sure I'd get the use out of a 5-string. The string spacing on the 4-string seems to suit me perfectly. I read about flimsy control knobs before I bought the Mikro but these feel really solid and smooth and that was a nice surprise.
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Hi, I thought I'd sneak in here as the new and very happy owner of a GSRM20 - a diddy Mikro Bass. I have the walnut flat one and I've made no changes to it (yet). Not that I'm a bass-modder or even a particularly talented bass-player. I just love quiet electronics - which for £159 I did not get and did not expect. It's a lovely little thing and it encourages me to play Herbie Hancock stuff that I thought I couldn't play. This and the Zoom B1on pedal that I got on eBay are two things I should have bought 10 years ago.
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This is a SEXY machine
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So, upright bass players. Welcome to the house of thumb.
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The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!
jazzburger replied to Baloney Balderdash's topic in Bass Guitars
I have a friend who works as a fencing armourer and has to solder new connections to the weapons all the time. I plan to ask him to give me a Soldering 101 class 🙂 Then I can do some rewiring in the VW and then tackle the Ibby 🙂 -
The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!
jazzburger replied to Baloney Balderdash's topic in Bass Guitars
Yes, well done me for telling half the story. Apologies. I'll play around with power supplies but it looks like I'll be shopping for conductive paint and learning to solder soon. 62 and I can't solder - pathetic or what? Thanks EZB. I am inclined towards some EMGs eventually because I have an EMG Select J pickup in my Aria and that made it a nice creature to live with. I'm just tired of pulling bits off an old VW - I was hoping not to have to do it with a brand new axe. -
The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!
jazzburger replied to Baloney Balderdash's topic in Bass Guitars
Thanks EZB - I was using a USB cable that I'd fitted an RF choke to (a bit OCD maybe) and was surprised by the noise. If I play my old Aria through the same pedal, all is silent or damn near. I had the USB cable connected to an Apple charger. Maybe that's not ideal. I'll try other options before I start chucking daft money at this. -
The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!
jazzburger replied to Baloney Balderdash's topic in Bass Guitars
Hi, I apologise for having been a proper lurker for a few weeks. Work has been a bit bonkers. I finally got the Ibanez Mikro Bass I mentioned I'd ordered when I joined the group. It's everything I hoped it would be - looks good, light, nice neck profile and I can play things I've never attempted on the old Aria. And both pickups are silent. Yess!! Well they are if I go through my Zoom B1 pedal and I'm powering that with batteries. If I power it using USB - oh dear, what a racket! The neck pickup is even noisier than the bridge - and the neck is a split coil. I've read articles about "is it grounding or shielding that you have to fix". I take my hands off the strings and it hums and fizzes so it looks like shielding. I know I can just carry on powering the Zoom pedal with batteries but sooner or later I'm going to be using a rig where I don't have that option. Has anyone managed to silence one of these little devils without sticking a set of EMGs in there please? If money were no option, I'd get an active EMG P/J set and pay a luthier to do a nice job for me - hoping that would give me the silence I enjoy with my 1985 Aria. As I say, sorry to lurk for weeks and then come out with this... -
The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!
jazzburger replied to Baloney Balderdash's topic in Bass Guitars
Noted BB - thank you - now where's my sandpaper?? -
The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!
jazzburger replied to Baloney Balderdash's topic in Bass Guitars
BB - that's very reassuring advice - thank you. I'll probably always go for quiet pickups because a lot of my playing and practising is going to be through headphones and a noisy bridge pickup does my head in. I'm a soul and funk player and I enjoy a bright-ish top end. The sound samples on the Thomann website make me think that if I'm happy with the size and balance of the GSRM20, the pickups will be liveable for long enough to put some money in the piggy-bank for some Geezers and maybe some Gotoh tuners, but from what you say, the tuners are up to the job anyway. Do you have any advice on strings? I have only ever had flatwounds once since 1985 and they were on a fretless, so I'm a roundwound player. Rotosound, D'Addario, LaBella, Ernie Ball have all been on the Aria over the years. LaBella were my favourites but, blimey, they went off quickly and they were pricey. Thanks again. -
The Short Scale Bass Appreciation Society!
jazzburger replied to Baloney Balderdash's topic in Bass Guitars
I'm preparing myself for that. The number of used ones for sale has made me think it's either a) too dinky or b) too compromised in the J pickup department.